11-13th Oct

Going home for a day is definitely a cheat day. My family is assuredly non-paleo, and whilst we don't have a sweet tooth, we appreciate desserts. So there you have it.

The day before I headed off I'd made myself a thai green curry, with wild alaskan salmon rather than the traditional chicken. The salmon was from the frozen section of Tescos; comes in a bag of six vac-packed fillets. The annoying thing is that defrosting them means that they're really wet, so it's difficult to fry 'em up for a nice crispy skin. Hence the curri-fication of the food. The innocuously named 'Cock Brand' (their logo is a chicken, okay) thai green curry is really good - no preservatives or additives; just a good ol' blend of a million spices and suchlike. I use it in pretty much everything; it's great with scrambled eggs. Coconut oil or butter is the key. Using butter gives a slightly thicker, richer mouthfeel. I made a pretty huge batch - four fillets, two aubergines, and about 3 1/2 cans of coconut milk, give or take. This is my second day batch, beautifully aesthetic in a plastic container. Classy, that's me.

Then yesterday was proper, back on track, full-blown, paleo time. See those? Kidneys. Local market butcher. There must have been about 400g. Underneath are three curry scrambled eggs. It ain't pretty, but it sure is tasty. The key really is not to overcook them. It was a little watery because they weren't entirely defrosted, but still edible. Had some Spanish salami and yoghurt, too.

So the middle bit; eating with family. We went to quite a nice restaurant and I spotted duck confit on the menu. I'm a sucker for confits. I mean, come on, it's food cooked in full on fat. In the case, duck in duck fat. Duck is also a magnificent bird. I could probably live off duck for a week or two. A challenge that I am honestly willing to take on. Duck confit is ace. I think the place was called Cote Brasserie.

Here comes my downfall. Dessert. Creme brulee up top, chocolate mousse on the right, and dark chocolate topped with creme fraiche on the bottom left. But to be fair to myself, no gluten in there. It was incredibly filling. I wasn't eating all three, obviously - it was a shared 'do.

Exercise: I'm doing at least 60 V sit ups, 60 leg lifts and 20 pushups every morning. Training for the half-marathon is currently at 0 miles. Breakdance bruises have been achieved. The half-marathon is in two weeks. I'm gonna run it in a panda or a pikachu onesie. Take your pick.

Didn't have any lysine whilst at home, mainly because I forgot to take it with me. A lot of boxers and professional athletes seem to have 'carb-cycling' days though. I haven't read enough about the long-term effects of ketosis to know what to do so I'm still self-experimenting. I can either stick VLC (very low carb) as long as possible, cold turkey, or have one day a week where I eat rice/potatoes/etc. For now, all I have in the fridge is meat, spinach and yoghurt. And butter. I am never without butter.

I deliberately don't pretty up my food; I have and certainly can appreciate nice presentation and delicate flavours, but this is just me eating, alone, with minimal mess and washing up. If I can do it, most people can. I'm not spending yoinks of money; it's all done and over with in half an hour. Cheap and cheerful student life, really. If you're thinking about it, try it for two weeks. A week isn't long enough to adjust to the new things you're feeding your body. And don't give up. Some days I crave cake like crazy, even now. I should probably stop watching The Great British Bakeoff on BBC iPlayer. But other days I'm fine. And I feel full, and in control. That's the most important thing, feeling empowered over your own health (and weight I guess). I'm trying, basically, to get under 20% body fat. Might start taking pictures of body composition later on but the idea makes me feel a bit self-conscious at the moment.

Cheers!